An Eaton man who was to be sentenced today for having sexual contact with a teenage boy was found dead in a Madison County jail cell.

A sheriff's office release stated that Michael D. York, 44, of 2905 Woodman Pond Road, was found "unresponsive" as deputies were conducting cell checks sometime after 2 a.m. today. York was pronounced dead at the Oneida Healthcare Center, the release stated.

Madison County Sheriff Ronald Cary called York's death "an apparent suicide," but no other details were available. An autopsy was to be performed by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner, and an investigation was under way by the State Department of Corrections, according to Cary.

York was a Level 3 registered sex offender who served a prison sentence in 1992 for abusing a 7-year-old.

He pleaded guilty Nov. 25 to a single count of second-degree criminal sexual act and had agreed to a sentence of 15 years to life in state prison. He had been indicted on 13 charges involving incidents between February and March.

York admitted in court that he had sexual contact with a boy between 12 and 15 years old during one of the February incidents in an Eaton residence. He was to be sentenced this morning in Madison County Court before Judge Dennis McDermott.

"I do feel it's unfortunate for his family," defense attorney Karin Marris said early today at the courthouse in Wampsville.